IT was with some trepidation that Paul Heaton and Mat Thornton opted to step out from the offices of one of Manchester's better-known creative agencies.

But three months on, they have far too much business to spend time worrying about being in control of their own destiny.

The new business partners are already looking for a third employee and permanent premises for Reform Creative, a new-start agency currently based in Whitefield.

"Once you cross the threshold, that fear quickly goes away," said Heaton, Reform's creative director. "I'd recommend it. "We're a month into trading for ourselves and things have gone so well we can't believe it. I didn't expect to be billing for three months because of all the things that you have to do when you set up a new advertising agency - but we've really hit the floor running."

Heaton and Thornton are the latest Manchester entrepreneurs to join what is becoming something of a media industry trend.

Whereas Manchester was traditionally a city of large, well-established agencies, smaller consultancies are now springing up all the time.

And it isn't just in the field of advertising - market conditions have led to recent new starts in public relations and media buying.

While many businesses go on to fail in their first year of trading, success stories like LOVE Creative and Brazen PR have placed a positive spin on the idea of breaking out from a reputable agency.

For Heaton and Thornton , who were previously working together at the Vivid agency, being able to exercise control over their own creativity is one of the most exciting aspects of going it alone.

Control

"I'd recommend it," adds Paul, "although I think it tends to make more sense for creative people. It means that they can control the creative work that they are doing and not be led by account handlers and marketeers and that type of people.

"This is more about doing the things we want to do, rather than building a big business."

It also helps to have healthy list of former clients and contacts, He added. "People I have worked with in the past have said how pleased they are that we are now working on our own."

Between them, Paul and Mat have 25 years' experience in the creative industry as well as eight industry awards and had work included in the coveted D&AD Annual.

Heaton had joined Vivid 11 months ago as creative director and previously worked as creative director at Tucker Clarke-Williams Creative and enjoyed a stint at The Chase. Thornton's experience includes eight years at The Practice and running his own creative agency. He says that Reform clients will benefit from working with a smaller consultancy - a common boast for people who break away.

"At Reform we believe in keeping our overheads to a minimum and passing the savings on to our clients," he added.

"You will always be speaking to a designer, so no key messages will ever get lost in translation."